A New Kind of Charm
by KatrinaRayne
Summary: The three Halliwell sisters learn that they are witches while still in high schoolmiddle school, as does a young Matthews girl. They are sent to study at Hogwarts, where they meet the Marauders and battle their first demon as well as some inner demons.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary:** The three Halliwell sisters learn that they are witches while still in high school/middle school, as does a young Matthews girl. They are sent to study at Hogwarts, where they meet the Marauders and battle their first demon as well as some inner demons.

**Author's Note/Disclaimer: **Although I don't own these characters (otherwise what would I be doing on this site?) I will use them to my discretion, but try to be as true to the actual characters as much as possible. Please review, but do not flame!

* * *

**Chapter One**

"Is it just me, or is it kind of weird that we're changing schools when we're almost _done_ with school?" asked Prudence Halliwell, blinking her gray-green eyes.

They were standing on Platform 9¾, surveying the people around them with apprehension (Pru) and interest (Piper). It was surreal, this experience. After all, they were in London, about to board a train leaving from Platform _9¾_ with people dressed in robes and mismatched clothing ("Muggle" clothing, someone seemed to have called it).

"It isn't so weird," said Piper. "I mean, it isn't every day you find out you're a witch. We have to learn to use our powers, after all."

"I can't see why you're okay with this," Prue said, crossing her arms over her chest.

Piper shrugged. "It's a chance to start over, I guess. You wouldn't understand. _You're_ the popular one. I, on the other hand, am and have always been the quiet, studious one – "

"Except to those of us who _really_ know you," muttered Prue.

" – the one everyone referred to as 'Prue Halliwell's sister.'"

"You really feel that way?" said Prue, surprised. Piper looked embarrassed, as though she felt she had said too much. "Well, in this school, I think _I_ may be the one in _your_ shadow.'

"You're way too big for my shadow," said Piper, with a shake of her head. "And stop calling it 'this school.' The name is 'Hogwarts.'"

"Okay, _sorry_. _Hogwarts_," Prue said. She craned her neck and looked around. "Where are Phoebe and Grams?"

"Right here," came Phoebe's perky voice from behind them. They both turned and the train whistled sounded, startling them. Copious amounts of white smoke were shrouding the platform. It was as though they had stepped back into the nineteenth century.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to trains," said Piper.

"Well, you'd better get used to them," said Grams. "And no electricity."

"You're kidding," said Prue. "Does that mean no T.V.?"

"No, T.V.," she confirmed.

"How do I dry my hair?" asked Prue, distraught.

"There's something called air," said Grams. "You'll find it's quite useful."

"But – but my hair will be frizzy," said Prue quietly and darkly. She couldn't imagine getting used to this world.

"Hurry and get on board," said Grams. "You don't want to miss the train."

They looked long and hard at their grandmother – the only family they'd had for a long time.

"I'll be at home," she said insistently. "Go on, now.

"Bye, Grams," Prue and Phoebe said, each giving her a hug. Adventurous Phoebe needed no more urging and traipsed to the train, but Prue hung back a little. Getting on that train would mean truly leaving her old life behind…all her friends…Brian MacDougal who she was supposed to go to Prom with…

"Bye, Grams," Piper said, biting her lower lip then and hugging her. She was closer to her grandmother than the other two, and as excited as she was to go to Hogwarts, it hurt to have to leave her grandmother.

Grams kissed the top of her head. "Now, _go_, girls."

Piper hurried to the train and got on, just as it began moving. She stood and watched Grams until she was out of view. Her eyes teared up, and as a hand descended on her back, she blinked away the tears.

"Let's go find somewhere to sit," said Phoebe. "I heard someone say this is a long ride."

* * *

"You're just looking for trouble," commented Remus Lupin, glancing at Sirius Black, who stood in the compartment door like a guard dog. "What are you doing?"

James Potter laughed. "You're quite the oblivious one, Remus."

"Yeah," agreed Peter Pettigrew, although James privately thought that he could have bet a million Galleons that Peter didn't know what the heck James was taking about.

"What do you mean?" asked Remus, frowning at James.

"I mean, didn't you _see_ those three new girls? The two pretty, fair-skinned, dark-haired older ones and their cute little sister?" James asked.

Remus shook his head slowly.

Sirius let out an exasperated sigh. "Come now, Remus. You'll never find anyone at that rate."

"It isn't as though you've found anyone at the rate _you're_ going," Remus pointed out.

"He's got a point, mate," said James, glancing out the compartment.

Sirius glared at the two of them, then followed James' gaze, his expression clearing. "Here they come. Let's invite them to sit with us."

Talking quietly, and obviously trying to find an empty compartment, the three girls were walking slowly, looking around.

Sirius kept his gaze inside the compartment, but all of them new he was watching them out of the corner of his eye. James grinned, ready to aid his best friend, if need be.

"Oh, hell," said Sirius, with faux surprise. "I don't believe I've seen you around."

"We're new," said the tallest one, her eyes sweeping the boys in the compartment.

"But you're _American_!" exclaimed Peter. Everyone's eyes turned to him, and he colored.

"_Are_ you from America?" asked Sirius, now really surprised. "And you're starting Hogwarts, now?"

"Yes," said another of the sisters warily.

"Well, you must sit with us then," invited Sirius, "because, firstly, there will be no open compartments, and secondly, we want to hear all about you."

James stood up, laughing silently. "Don't let him scare you away. We're decent guys, really."

The sister who looked youngest smiled and turned to the other two. "We might as well, right?"

They moved inside and sat down in any empty space they could find.

"I'm James Potter," he said. "These are my friends, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew."

"Nice to meet you," said the tallest of the three. "I'm Prudence Halliwell, but you can call me Prue. These are my younger sisters, Piper and Phoebe."

"What year are you?" James asked Prue.

She, like Piper and Phoebe, was very pretty. She had clear skin and a slender body and was graced with gray-green eyes, prominent cheekbones, and sleek, dark hair that fell to her shoulders.

"I'm a…senior…or in the last year…" she said, shutting her eyes and waving her hands as though trying to remember. "What is it? Oh, right, seventh year. I'm a seventh year."

"So are we," jumped in Sirius, looking pleased. "And what about your adorable, lovely sisters?"

Prue opened her mouth, but then turned and caught the one called Piper's eye. "I…think they can tell you themselves."

Piper was curvier than Prue, with skin was more golden and with rosy cheeks. Her hair was a lighter shade than Prue's and cascaded down her back elegantly.

"I'm a fifth year," she said.

"And I'm a third year," piped up tiny Phoebe.

She was young and cute, but it was evident that she, too, would be beautiful when she grew older. Phoebe had the shortest hair of the three; it fell so it just brushed her shoulders. She had the natural thinness of a child and the same lovely chocolate eyes as Piper, although they were larger on her small face.

"From where in America are you?" asked Remus. "I visited there…once."

"San Francisco," replied Piper. "Where did you go?"

"Boston," he replied, "and Chicago."

James and Sirius exchanged glanced and quickly looked away from each other. Both knew that Remus' parents had taken him there in desperation, trying to find a cure for his werewolf bite. They had also taken him to Kuala Lumpur, Port-au-Prince, Cairo, and Bolivar. Remus often said wryly that he would have enjoyed the chance to travel if it hadn't been for something so vile.

"We visited Chicago once," Phoebe was saying. "I was little though, so I don't remember anything. I was just a baby. Our parents took us."

Prue and Piper visibly stiffened and maybe it was after sensing that, that Remus quickly asked, If you don't mind me asking, what prompted this sudden move to Hogwarts?"

None of the girls made any move to answer. They sat in silence and exchanged glances.

The compartment door burst open and pretty, slender, redheaded Lily Evans stood there, her startlingly green eyes blazing as they settled on James.

"Potter!" she hissed. "Barely five minutes into the job and you're _already_ showing how irresponsible you are!"

James felt himself freeze up for the merest second. She got lovelier and lovelier every year.

"Hello, Lily. Yes, I had a nice summer. Thank you for asking," he said, a little cockily. "What job?"

The realization dawned on him, and he felt his body grow cold. "Bloody hell!" he cried, jumping up. "I completely forgot!"

"That," said Lily disdainfully, "is obvious. I spent this whole summer – since I got the badge and the note saying _you_ are Head Boy – wondering what Professor Dumbledore was thinking, giving you this responsibility. Now _come on_."

"Oh, so you spent this summer thinking about me," said James raising his eyebrows suggestively. He wanted to hit himself for it right after, especially since he knew it was things like that, that made her loathe him so much in the first place.

"Oh, you little – "

"Watch your language, Lily," said Sirius with mock shock. "And in front of our new friends too."

Lily rounded on him. "Shove it, Black. Now come _on_, Potter."

James rose languidly and said, "It was nice to meet you and I'll talk to you later."

"Bye," said Prue with a quick smile.

Then as he turned to Lily, she hurried out the compartment, where she had been standing impatiently. James sighed slightly as he watched her. _Here we go again_. Lily's attitude was getting really old.

And why was it that although she treated him like that, he couldn't help but like…no…love her? Maybe he should just forget about her – find someone else. It couldn't be healthy, being hung up on someone like her for so long.

They finally reached the prefects' compartment and Lily said breathlessly, "Hello. As I said before, I'm Lily Evans, the Head Girl. This is the Head Boy – "

"James Potter," finished the girl Ravenclaw prefect. James was flattered, and he flashed her a grin.

Lily pressed her lips together and then finally said, "Yes. James Potter."

"Now, you have a responsibility as prefects starting here on the train itself. We have to uphold a tradition of – "

"Can we just get on with it?" asked the Hufflepuff prefect, who James was sure was called Sanford Smith.

Lily flushed slightly and said, "Well, we will patrol the train in pairs, combing from this end to the other and returning to this compartment."

People nodded to show they understand and the Slytherin boy prefect (something Mason?) rolled his eyes. James narrowed his eyes at him and Smith, who was playing with his wand.

"Po – James and I will go first," said Lily, raising an eyebrow at him, as though daring him to argue.

His eyebrows shot up to his hairline, but he didn't say anything. To argue would mean showing the prefects that he didn't have as much power as Lily. The thing was, even if they argued, he would end up giving in. He had a soft spot when it came to her.

"Shall we, Lily?" asked James, allowing her to go first.

"Thank you," she said a little stiffly.

"Well, let's get this over with," he muttered under his breath, setting off down the hallway. "I can't believe we have to take the first shift."

"What did you just grumble?" Lily asked. "Don't deny it. I heard you. You grumbled something."

"How could you have given us the first shift?" James demanded more loudly. "You should have given it to that snot-nosed Smith or that shifty Slytherin bloke, Mason."

The corners of Lily's mouth turned up ever-so-slightly. "Well, we're going to switch off, and the Slytherin prefects will patrol near the middle and the Hufflepuffs will finish up at the end when we reach Hogwarts."

The middle and end were the two busiest times – when people were starting to get tired of just sitting and walking around to stretch their legs and when they were getting off the train.

James started her, not sure what to say. She looked and him, then away, then back at him again.

"What?"

"You're…pleasantly devious," he commented.

"And you…aren't such a bad person yourself," said Lily. "Listen, James. I was planning on saying this to you earlier but I just got a little…"

"Fiery?" he suggested.

"If you say so," she said. "I couldn't believe you forgot your responsibilities. But I wanted to…call a truce, I suppose. It's our last year at Hogwarts. I don't want to spend it fighting."

James bit back the desire to tell her that was exactly what he was trying to do all along and just said, "I think it's a great idea."

It was best not to treat lightly. He didn't want to annoy her when she was actually being civil with him.

* * *

Paige Matthews didn't know a single person she was sharing a compartment with, but she took solace in the fact that none of them knew each other either.

She sucked on her cherry lollipop (a "Muggle" candy, one of the kids had disdainfully called it – she didn't think she liked him much) and she observed the others as they talked.

The compartment door opened and two attractive older students walked in. The guy caught Paige's attention first – he was very good-looking with messy brown hair and brown eyes, framed by round glasses. He seemed tall to her and lean; he walked with that way that athletes or self-assured people seem to walk.

"Hello, midgets," he said looking around at all of them.

"Potter!" exclaimed the pretty redhead, elbowing him. She asked kindly, "Are you first years?"

All of them nodded shyly. At that moment, a suspicious _bang_ from another compartment drew her attention and she excused herself quickly.

"I'm James Potter, Head Boy. You are going to enjoy your stay at Hogwarts. If you need anything, ask me or any of the prefects, or the Head Girl, Lily Evans. You've better off asking me, however. Don't tell her I said this, but she's a bit of a…er…"

"Stick in the mud?" volunteered Paige, taking her lollipop out of her mouth.

James looked at her a little strangely. "You're American."

She nodded. She was tired of people pointing that out to her. Yes, she knew where she came from. "I know it's strange – an American going to a European school, yadda, yadda, yadda. But it's supposed to be a good school or whatever."

"Hogwarts is an excellent school," he said with a smile and pride swelled his chest. "I was thinking it's a little strange though, because I just met three other American witches who are going to Hogwarts. They're older than you…but you actually look a lot like them."

* * *

Lily paused before rejoining Potter, wondering about the three pretty witches sitting with Potter and his friends. Her friend, Alice Hughes had told her they were exchange students from America, but that was all she knew about them.

"Potter," she said, ducking her head into the first years' compartment.

He looked up. "Yes, Evans?"

"I think we should split up for a little while – " she ignored the outbreak of giggling from the first years " – that way we can patrol the entire train faster."

"All right," Potter said, looking slightly taken aback.

Lily walked down the train. She was head Girl. It was her duty to introduce herself to students and make sure they felt welcome and secure at Hogwarts. Plus, she was curious about these new girls and the interest Potter and his friends were showing in them.

"Hi," she said, entering the compartment, making sure to sound kinder than when she had talked to Potter.

"All right, Evans?" asked Black, grinning. He seemed to feel it was his job to flirt shamelessly with Lily whenever James wasn't around to ensure that nobody else got the chance to do so.

"I'm Lily Evans," she said, addressing the new girls. "Sorry your first impression of me had to be so…bad. Sometimes that's the only way to deal with Potter, I'm afraid."

"The only way to deal with him?" said Black in disbelief. "Evans, he'd throw himself to the Dementors if you so much as told him too."

Lily rolled her eyes. The youngest of the girls, however, said, "What's a Dementor?"

"They guard the wizard prison, Azkaban," said Remus, raising an eyebrow slightly. He opened his mouth, but then closed it again and turned to Lily, saying, "Hi, Lily."

"Hello, Remus," she responded. He was the only one of the four that she truly liked. Then she turned back to the girls. "I'm sorry. As I was saying, I'm Lily Evans."

"Prudence Halliwell," said the oldest. "But you can call me Prue. These are my sisters, Piper and Phoebe."

"You don't have to introduce us all the time," Piper said crossly. "We can talk too, you know."

"Sorry," said Prue, cringing.

Piper softened and said, "I'm just kidding. It's nice to meet you, Lily."

"It's nice to meet you too," she said. "Well, I'm Head Girl this year and I just wanted to say that since you're new, all of you are welcome to come to me if you need anything at all."

"Thanks," said Phoebe. "We probably _will_ need something. We aren't used to the whole magical world thing."

"What?" said Lily, confused. They were old enough to have already started school. That didn't make sense.

"Ah, yes," said Remus. "I was wondering how you didn't know what Azkaban is."

"In our family, magical powers don't develop until sort of late," said Prue quickly, glancing at her sisters. "We were lucky to get them at around the same time so we could start school at the same time."

"So your parents thought you were Squibs," said Pettigrew.

"Grandmother," corrected Prue at the same time as Remus said, "Wormtail!" looking shocked.

"Sorry," he squeaked.

"It's fine," said Piper. "What's…what's a Squib?"

"Someone from a magical family who doesn't have magical powers," said Black. "The caretaker's a Squib – Filch. Speaking of him, you'll want to look out for him. He hates kids – he catches you even looking shifty, it's off to detention with you!"

Lily wanted to smile at the shamelessly carefree look on Sirius' face, even as he talked about detention. Especially considering how many times he'd landed himself in detention. She realized with a start that she was supposed to be patrolling the hallways.

"I really should be going now," she said. "I'll talk to you later. Oh, and I hope you lot are in Gryffindor!"

"Bye," said Prue.

"We hope we're in Gryffindor too," Piper said.

"See you later," Phoebe told her. As soon as Lily left, she said, "What's Gryffin…whatever?"

"_Gryffindor_ is one of the four Hogwarts houses," said Piper. "The others are Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and…wait…"

"Hufflepuff," said Remus quietly.

"Yeah," she said, snapping her finger as it came to her.

"How do you know all that?" asked Prue, astonished.

"I found a book, _Hogwarts: A History_," Piper replied flippantly.

"You've read _Hogwarts: A History_?" spoke up Sirius. "Haven't you read that, Remus?"

"Yes," replied Remus. "It's an interesting book. You should have tried reading it."

"Well, it's too late anyways," said Sirirus nonchalantly. "Since we're almost done with Hogwarts and all."

"Yes…" Remus said, with a faraway look in his eyes. "We _are_ almost done with Hogwarts."

"You lot had better be in Gryffindor," said Sirius, eyeing them beadily. "All of us are in Gryffindor."

"Quiet, Padfoot," said Remus. "Anything but Slytherin is good."

"Except Hufflepuff," spoke up Peter. "Load of dunderheads, they are."

"Not like they're any better than you," said Sirius teasingly.

"You'll scare the poor girls," said Remus. "It's all right, really, whatever house you're in. Although, I must say, there is a sort of…enmity between Gryffindor and Slytherin. But it isn't that big of a deal."

The glances Peter and Sirius exchanged said otherwise, however.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary:** The three Halliwell sisters learn that they are witches while still in high school/middle school, as does a young Matthews girl. They are sent to study at Hogwarts, where they meet the Marauders and battle their first demon as well as some inner demons.

* * *

**Chapter Two**

"What? Are we here already?" asked Piper, looking around.

The Marauders had all started to stand as though some inaudible alarm had just gone off.

"No, no, sorry," said Remus, who had been earnestly discussing everything from Hogwarts to werewolf lore and prejudice with Piper. "We're almost there. We're changing into our school robes right now. You should do the same."

"Right," said Prue. "Come on, girls."

She thought she could have a little bit of fun and use her wand (cypress; 12 inches; veela hair) to summon her clothing out of her trunk, but Sirius put his hand over hers.

"No magic allowed – except for classes and homework," he said.

"Well, that's no fun!" said Prue indignantly.

Remus snorted. "As though _you_ care about following the rules, Padfoot."

Prue wanted to ask why they had these nicknames for each other, but thought better of it. They might see it as nosy. And now that she was leaving her wonderful old life and friends behind, she didn't want to alienate the friends she _did_ make here.

Sirius smiled. "Well, I don't want to get these ladies into trouble before they even set foot on the Hogwarts grounds."

"Sirius," spoke up Phoebe, who'd been very taken by the handsome, fun-loving Marauder.

"Yes?" he asked, his attention instantly directed to her.

Prue smiled slightly to herself, making sure to turn away and not let them see.

"What's a 'Muggle?'" Phoebe asked.

"Non-magic folk," he replied promptly.

"We're here," interrupted Peter, who had been standing and looking out the window. He'd been quiet most of the way, except to cheer Sirius in his antics (done, it seemed, for the benefit of the Halliwell sisters, primarily).

"Excellent," said Sirius, rubbing his palms together. "I'm starved."

"How can you be hungry?" asked Prue dryly. "You ate half the cart."

"I'm a growing young man," he replied with a wink, rubbing his toned stomach and stretching.

Prue busied herself with stowing her sweatshirt in her trunk so nobody would see her blushing (however, Piper _did_ send her a highly suspicious glance).

"Leave your luggage on the rack," said Remus to Piper, who was trying to wrestle down her trunk. "It'll be taken up to your dormitory."

"Come on, ladies," said Sirius. "Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

"Well, let's get this over with," said Prue with a sigh.

* * *

"Were we _ever_ that small?" asked Potter, watching little Paige and her nervous first year friends get off the train.

Lily didn't reply, having been distracted by the fact that they were passing a compartment from which several Slytherin seventh years were exiting. Severus' mouth opened as she drew level with him, but his eyes fell on Potter. His sallow face paled further, if possible and he turned and swept out of the train.

Potter made a disgusted sound and Lily bristled. She faced him, eyes narrowing, hands on her hips.

"Will you _ever_ get off his case?" she demanded.

"He called you _Mudblood_, Evans," said Potter, looking thunderstruck. "How can you still defend him?"

The same way she could still defend Tuney. She shut her eyes, the memory cutting. And he had been her best friend. A familiar sense of stinging betrayal and sadness overwhelmed her. It was the same way she'd felt when Petunia had called her a freak.

Well, she'd long since given up trying to make amends with her sister and she wasn't even going to try to make amends with Severus.

"First years this way," called Lily, stepping down the stairs to the platform and directing the kids towards Hagrid.

Her foot slipped and as suddenly as her heart jumped to her throat, Potter's arm was around her waist, supporting her and holding her up. She could stop her temper flaring and forgot about the truce.

Potter grinned and said, "Careful, Evans, and on your first day as Head Girl!'

She shoved him away, ego bruised (and the giggling of the other students didn't help either). "I'm perfectly capable of handling myself, thank you very much!"

She stormed off, leaving Potter standing there, staring after her, the dashing grin wiped off his face. She heard him call, "Your welcome!" and ground her teeth together, infuriated.

* * *

Paige was feeling downhearted. She'd never had any trouble making friends back home. In fact, she'd often ended up somehow being the leader of her group of friends. Yet, here, none of the other first years' seemed to want to talk to her. And all because she was American.

"Is everything all right?" asked James Potter, catching sight of her.

She half shrugged. "What's going to happen once we get to the castle?"

"You'll be Sorted into one of the four houses," he replied. "Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, or Hufflepuff. I'm in Gryffindor, myself."

"And what's the point of that?" she asked, raising an eyebrow as she led her along to an extremely large, alarmingly bushy man.

"Well, there's the Inter-House competition. Whichever house gets the most points wins."

"Oh," she said. "That's all?"

Now it was his turn to raise an eyebrow. "It's very important to many people."

Even she caught the stiffness in his voice and dropped the subject. She couldn't afford to anger the only person who was being remotely nice to her.

* * *

"James?" said a voice. He turned to see the three Halliwell sisters standing there, looking nervous. "Where do we go?"

"Oh, with the first years," he said, somewhat apologetically. "You have to be sorted, you see."

"Oh, yeah. Remus and Piper were saying something about that," said Prue. "So where do the first years go?"

"Over to Hagrid," replied James. "That big hairy bloke over there. All right, Hagrid? We have some exchange students right here!"

The girls cringed a little at James' shout, but hurried over to Hagrid, saying goodbye to James.

Once everyone was safely in the boats or thestral-drawn carriages, Lily and James got into a carriage. She was quiet, breathing sort of heavily, and looking out the window. Finally, she turned to him and seemed to be bracing herself.

"Finally calmed down?" he asked quietly.

"I'm sorry," she said, looking as though the words were extremely painful to get out. She smiled slightly. "We've just started this truce thing. It'll take awhile for me to get used to it."

James looked out the window now and watched Hogwarts approached. He wasn't really angry. He was completely used to being treated like that by Lily. It was just sort of amusing to pretend to be upset. "Well…I'm not sure I can forgive you."

Lily looked slightly distraught. "Potter – "

And of course, James being James, was unable to see her look like that and spoke up.

"All right, all right," he said. "I suppose I can forgive you _this _time…but I can't promise just apologizing will work forever."

* * *

Prue, Piper, and Phoebe stood with the group of first years after having rowed their way across the lake. Phoebe was excited, definitely, but she couldn't help but feel nervous. What was this sorting ceremony going to be like, she wondered. She was just glad that here sisters were there with her.

A stern-looking witch with black hair, done in a tight bun came into the hall. She led the students into the entrance hall. It was enormous. Phoebe couldn't recall ever seeing a building so massive in her life. And this wasn't the entire building – it was just the entrance hall.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said the witch. "I am Professor McGonagall. The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted one of the four houses – Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff. Your house will be like your family while you are here.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."

She swept out of the room and into a door on the right. The sounds of voices could be heard from there, which led Phoebe to assume the rest of the school was already there. She felt Prue grip her hand and squeeze it. She squeezed back.

Professor McGonagall led them into the Great Hall and all the way to the front. There were four long tables and hundreds of floating candles hovering in the air. The ceiling…well Phoebe wasn't sure whether it was a ceiling or just an open space revealing the night sky.

All eyes were on them as they walked to the front. It was sort of humiliating to be a thirteen-year-old walking in this group of eleven-year-olds. She just drew comfort in the fact that her sisters were with her. It must have been even worse for them, a fifteen-year-old and a seventeen-year-old walking with these eleven-year-olds. Professor McGonagall set a four-legged stool in front of them. There was a ragged wizard's hat sitting atop it. And suddenly, the hat began to sing.

Phoebe tuned it out, looking around the hall. Her eyes fell on the four boys from their compartment. Sirius waved merrily and she waved back, feeling an instant sensation of warmth wash over her. They already had _friends_. Whatever happened not couldn't be bad at all.

She realized that the hat had finished singing and Professor McGonagall had stepped forward again.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "But before I begin, I would like to announce that this year we have some exchange students from America. Although they are not first years, they will be sorted as well, since this is their first year at Hogwarts. With that being said, Abercrombie, Sandrine!"

She sat down and the hat fell upon her head, yelling out, "RAVENCLAW!"

After what seemed like days and seconds, all at the same time, she called, "Halliwell, Phoebe!"

Phoebe walked up, heart pounding, and sat on the stool. Sirius winked at her from the Gryffindor table. The hat fell on her head.

"Ah, you're courageous, I see," said a voice in her ear. "And intelligent. But I feel your loyalty far outweighs both of those qualities. Therefore, I'll put you in HUFFLEPUFF!"

The table on the right burst into cheers, but Phoebe felt cold overcome her. She heard Peter's voice in her mind, saying, _"Load of dunderheads they are."_

She looked over at the Gryffindor table. Sirius, Remus, and James all waved kindly, but Peter was staring down at the tabletop, his cheeks red, probably remembering what he'd said.

Phoebe sat beside a snobby-looking guy with an upturned nose and looked out at her sisters, a strange ringing in her ears.

"Halliwell, Piper," said Professor McGonagall.

She sat down on the stool and wore the hat. After a few moments, the hat shouted, "RAVENCLAW!"

Looking as though she'd steeled herself for this, Piper made her way over to the table second from the left, which was cheering. At least that was better than Hufflepuff.

It was Prue's turn now and Professor McGonagall, said, "Halliwell, Prudence."

Prue sat, practically trembling. The hat was on her head for several minutes before it declared, "GRYFFINDOR!" to then entire Great Hall.

Phoebe felt the slightest shimmer of jealousy as she watched Prue walk past Piper on her way to the Gryffindor table, looking utterly relieved. James and Sirius scooted over to allow her room between them.

* * *

"Matthews, Paige!"

Paige sat on the stool and the hat dropped onto her head.

"Reckless…very reckless," said the hat. "I see a reckless ambition to prove yourself and come out on top. You're brave too…and clever…shrewd, I would say. If that's what you're like, then it'd better be SLYTHERIN!"

She leaped up off the stool and almost skipped to the Slytherin table, which was all cheering. She gazed around until her eyes met James'. She beamed at him and he smiled back, but the smile looked forced and his eyes looked shocked.

Once the feast was over, she ignored the Slytherin prefect, who said in a surly voice, "Come on, you lot. This way, then" and stalked off. Phoebe raked the hall for James Potter, and upon finding him, hurried over.

"Hi!" she said brightly.

He looked around and his eyes fell on her.

"Hi," he responded with a quick smile.

"Come on, we should get to the Common Room," said one of James' friends – he was incredibly good-looking, although the look on his face seemed rather arrogant. He didn't acknowledge or even look at Paige as he said this.

"You should too," James told Paige. "You don't want to get lost on your first night here – it won't be pleasant. I can tell you that much."

"Okay," she said, feeling a little wrong-footed. "I'll see you later, then."

"Bye," he said.

As they walked away, Paige heard James say, "We _should_ get to the Common Room? Since when do _you_ do what you _should_?"


End file.
